Land claim burden falls to the people
Apr. 11, 2000

O-D Editorial

Last week’s collapse of talks to resolve the Oneida Indian Nation’s land claim was followed by the inevitable round of finger-pointing.

But the blame game played by leaders of local governments, state government, the Oneida Indian Nation and various landowner groups only makes clear what was pretty evident anyhow.

Real progress in the land claim region must come from everyday citizens, not the folks at the top.
How can everyday folks make progress when lawyers and experts could not?

It’s a different kind of progress. There are not millions of dollars at stake, but something more important — the future of the Mohawk Valley.

If the Oneida case follows the expected route it will take in the court system, there might be a ruling on the land issues — and only those — by 2005. Throw in the appeals that will come no matter what happens, and it will easily be 2010 before there’s a final settlement. On top of that discouraging scenario, there remain unsolved disputes over sovereignty, sales taxes, and the Oneidas’ slot-like video gambling machines.

There are enough divisive issues to keep the people of the land claim area at odds well into the next generation.
Is that really the future that anyone wants? No. There are very deep and very valid, disagreements among various groups and factions. That is to be expected when there are millions of dollars at stake as well as the highly personal and emotional issue of land. Residents with strong feelings are not wrong.

But for much of the past 16 months, there has been a pattern of one side demonizing the other and a breakdown in the routine communication among people. That has to stop. On all sides, no matter who is right or wrong. An amnesty and a truce will do more now than high-powered lawyers or attention-grabbing tactics.

The Oneida Area Council of Churches has started “Peace Circles” to get church members talking. That’s a start. But it needs to spread. Like it or not, the collapse of the land claims talks means that the people of the region will have to learn to live in a semi-permanent state of limbo. That’s not going to be easy. It will be twice as hard if supporters and foes of the Oneidas fail to realize that all sides are far more alike than they are different.

Land claim residents have very deep differences. But they are neighbors and partners in the future of the region. In the coming months and years, that bond will determine the region’s future far more than all the lawyers and experts.